Epicenter, 1868

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The Grammer Genious - 22 Dec 2003 01:32 GMT

Queen Victoria: Next you will be telling me that the Crown no
longer governs this nation!

Disraeli: Your Majesty remains at the very epicenter of governance.

Those lines are from the film "Mrs Brown" (1997), thus giving the
lie to claims that the non-geological use -- or misuse -- of the
word "epicenter" is a modern phenomenon. Antony Sher would not
have said that line to Dame Judi Dench if it were not authentic,
I don't think.

\\P. Schultz

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Michael Hamm - 22 Dec 2003 08:23 GMT

> Those lines are from the film "Mrs Brown" (1997), thus giving the
> lie to claims that the non-geological use -- or misuse -- of the
> word "epicenter" is a modern phenomenon. Antony Sher would not
> have said that line to Dame Judi Dench if it were not authentic,
> I don't think.

Wouldn't he say whatever Jeremy Brock had him say?

Michael Hamm Since mid-September of 2003,
AM, Math, Wash. U. St. Louis I've been erasing too much UBE.
msh210@math.wustl.edu Of a reply, then, if you have been cheated,
http://math.wustl.edu/~msh210/ Likely your mail's by mistake been deleted.

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J. J. Lodder - 22 Dec 2003 09:23 GMT

> Queen Victoria: Next you will be telling me that the Crown no
> longer governs this nation!
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> have said that line to Dame Judi Dench if it were not authentic,
> I don't think.

No doubt he tried to amuse her,

Jan

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Mike Lyle - 22 Dec 2003 11:05 GMT

> Queen Victoria: Next you will be telling me that the Crown no
> longer governs this nation!
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> \\P. Schultz

Me either. A BBC radio play had Queen Alexandra saying "There's no way
that x y"; and I'd love to know if Churchill really did write the word
"notepaper" as it appeared in another Radio 4 series (I'm not saying
he didn't; but it stuck out).

Mind you, the idea of the Queen being violently shaken by Government
activity directly below her has a certain aptness.

Mike.

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Carmen L. Abruzzi - 23 Dec 2003 20:29 GMT

Once upon a 12/21/03 5:32 PM, in the land of
3fe649e9$0$4763$61fed72c@news.rcn.com, the very good"The Grammer Genious"
from <schultzp@erols.com> wrote:

Not at all, no I think we need not fear that these brilliant thespians have
went and gone all amuck.

Yet, the use of "misuse" must be questioned: Benjie no doubt knew just what
he was on about. The Queen is the epicenter, not the center: she positions
herself perfectly above the center; jostled about by its toings and froings;
responsive, yet largely unaffecting.

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Donna Richoux - 01 Jan 2004 20:55 GMT

Merriam-Webster is under the impression that the word was not coined
until 1887. They also have a link to the word "hypocenter" which I never
heard of. (It's even later, 1905.)

Most of the movie took place a few years after Prince Albert's death,
right? That was 1861. I see that Disraeli was Prime Minister in 1868 and
then again from 1874 to 1880. Looks like an anachronism.

Doesn't bother me as much as the little girl saying "Okay" in the
opening of "Pirates of the Caribbean," though.

Signature

Best - Donna Richoux

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John Dean - 02 Jan 2004 01:23 GMT

>> Queen Victoria: Next you will be telling me that the Crown no
>> longer governs this nation!
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
> Doesn't bother me as much as the little girl saying "Okay" in the
> opening of "Pirates of the Caribbean," though.

OED agree on 1887 for epicentre, but also have 1879 for epicentrum. They
also have 'epicentral' from 1866 as a term for the scleral spines of a fish.
For an educated man to deduce 'epicentre' from 'epicentrum' or 'epicentral'
isn't a great leap. And an educated man would know the original Greek. And
probably pride himself on *not* knowing the use to which vulgar scientists
like seismologists were putting the term.
Brown died in 1883. I don't know the timeline of the film.
Betcha the little girl was saying 'okeh' in Choctaw or referring to the
famous port of Aux Cayes in Haiti.
--
John Dean
Oxford
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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2004

Epicenter, 1868